Have An Adaptive Mindset
The second key factor related to building and maintaining cooperative relationships is to have an adaptive mindset. These leader understand the differences in the problems they confront every day. They recognize that there are technical problems and adaptive challenges. With the former, the problem is clearly defined and the solution falls within the range of current problem solving expertise. With the later, an adaptive challenge, the problem requires a new perspective, expertise, and/or solutions. Furthermore, an adaptive challenge calls into questions fundamental assumptions and beliefs. Therefore, these leaders are open to reorganizing their thoughts and their actions, a critical element to having an adaptive mindset.
They also understand that defining the problem may require learning and dialogue. They even understand that adaptive challenges require ownership of the solution, and the process of creating the actual solution. Thus, they seek alignment without control, and progress through perseverance rather than the use of positional authority and power.
Furthermore, these same leaders grasp the depth and magnitude of this insight by the late William Bridges, namely “The picture in people’s head is the reality they live in…”. Recognizing that the picture inside people’s head matters, these leaders are open to the picture inside their own heads being the problem. Therefore, they are willing to change themselves first before asking others to explore the picture inside their head.
Still, the leaders who struggle with this insight often paint a picture for others of “here is you doing the work.” This choice does not generate commitment. On the other hand, the leaders with an adaptive mindset focus on painting a picture for others of “here are the outcomes of you doing the work.” They grasp that once the social relationship is healthy, i.e. the bond between leader and follower is built on respect, dignity and integrity, then all involved want to make progress on a daily basis. They also want to do something that makes a difference. Understanding that our work matters and that the outcomes from the work are making a difference is critical to creating commitment over time.
With the Genius of the AND in mind, leaders who build commitment by building and maintaining cooperative relationships also do one other thing. They create and maintain a healthy work culture. One part of this is to provide structure related to goals, expectations, and accountability, which, over time, will result in focus, understanding, and ownership. This act alone generates confidence, because no one has to guess what is expected of them. When relationships are healthy and when tasks, functions, roles, and positions are clarified, we have a winning combination.
People Commit To People Before The Plan
The third key factor to building commitment and the capacity to adapt within the current work environment is to remember that people commit to people before a plan or, for that matter, a system. On the surface, this seems elementary and a “blinding flash of the obvious,” referencing an old Tom Peters’ statement. Still, when people commit to people, they are, in essence, committing to the “tribe,” referencing my earlier comments about tribal relationships and tribal knowledge. And once the tribal bond has been formed, most people support these tribal alliances for some very important reasons.
Most leaders forget why people join teams. Diane Tracy in her book, The First Book of Common-Sense Management (William Morrow and Company, 1989) wrote that there are five reasons why people join teams. The first is security because “the team is a place where members feel safe, and cared for.” The second is belonging because “the team provides identification.” The third is individuality because “the team can recognize and support the valuable differences of its members.” The fourth is pride because “team members share in group achievements.” And finally, the fifth is recognition because “the outside world respects the group as a more powerful entity than it would an individual.”
During my decades of teaching about leadership and organizational change, I shared this information with many leaders, and they were stunned by these five reasons. First, they just didn’t know this information. Second, they could not believe the implications of these reasons. Third, they realized that most front line supervisors and their respective team leaders did not have a clue about why people joined teams. They just assumed that putting people in a room and calling them a “team” would generate team work. But if the goal is teamwork and healthy team relationships plus the resulting commitment to the team, then team leaders need to understand these five reasons and support these five elements within their team building and team maintenance efforts.
As team leaders do that level of work, these same team leaders need to recognize that the foundation for successful execution at the team level has been well researched and documented. One of the best articles I have read on this subject was written by Martine Haas and Mark Mortensen called “The Secrets of Great Teamwork” in the June 2016 issue of the Harvard Business Review. As they note, there are four critical elements to success as a team. The first is to have a compelling direction, because “People have to care about achieving a goal.” The second is to have a strong structure, because “Every individual doesn’t have to possess superlative technical and social skills, but the team overall needs a healthy dose of both.” The third is to have a supportive context, namely the resources, information and training to do the job well. The fourth is to have a shared mindset. As Haas and Morten explain, “Distance and diversity, as well as digital communication and changing membership, make them [teams] especially prone to the problems of “us versus them” thinking and incomplete information…. The solution to both is developing a shared mindset among team members - something team leaders can do by fostering a common identity and common understanding.” And I would add to this list common language and shared experiences. For in the end, team members will commit to the tribe first before they will ever commit to a system or company.
Furthermore, the best leaders, who embrace the Genius of the AND, recognize that they need to understand the history that created these tribes and tribal alliances. They also, at the exact same time, build systems that are owned and understood by those who will have to execute them over time. This dynamic set of actions is complex but manageable when leaders grasp that people need to participate in the creation of change, not just be told to change. This subtle but important shift starts the movement of all involved to feel like there is a we involved in the process rather than and us vs them feeling and/or mentality. And this will result with a deep level of commitment even in the midst of complexity and volatility.
People And Commitments
In the convergence of leadership, teamwork and commitment, I think we need to remember the words of John Adams: “There are 2 kinds of people, those who make commitments and those who keep commitments.” It is the later group that is successful over time. As an old Quaker phase notes, “Their word is their bond.” And these kinds of people choose to live their commitments and keep their commitments. They are bonded to the people they work with and their commitment is a bond that people can count on over time.
For if we seek to answer the following two questions, “How do we create a work environment where people want to join the company and stay with the company through the metaphorical ‘thick and thin’?”, and “How do we build commitment?”, then we need understand the foundations of commitment. This begins by examining the history of work and the way new employees gained clarity and commitment, namely though passing on of key information by older employees through an oral communication and role modeling rather than through systems and systems management. Next, new employees learned that maintaining tribal relationships was more important than maintaining a systems approach to operational success or any level of organizational change. From their perspective, alignment was with the team or tribe more than to a system or form of system management.
Commitment was also built by leaders who embraced the Genius of the AND rather than the Tyranny of the OR. They translated this choice into building and maintaining cooperative relationships, and choosing to hold an adaptive mindset. This meant that they recognized that they could be the problem and the one who might need to change their mind first rather than to ask others to do it first.
Finally, those leaders, who kept their commitments, respected the perspective that people commit to people before they commit to a plan or system. Therefore, leaders focused on the five reasons people joined teams and stayed with teams. They grasped that people need to participate in the creation of change, not just be told to change. This subtle but important shift built a we level of unity and resulted in a deeper and more holistic level of commitment.
Many years ago, Robert Rosen in his book, Leading People (Viking Pengiun, 1997), wrote: "People want to be led. They don't want the old authoritarian leadership style. Nor do they want some clever new management technique. Instead, they want leaders with deeply held human values who respect people's unique talents and contributions. They want leaders who will create an environment that nurtures excellence, risk taking, and creativity. They reject intimidation or manipulation, but they positively yearn for inspiration. Similarly, in the misguided efforts of leaders is hidden another message: leaders need followers. Leaders don't want docile, do only-as-ordered employees. Instead, they want responsible, mature, forward-looking associates. They want partners who are as committed as they are to the success of the enterprise.”
In order to create “partners who are as committed as they are to the success of the enterprise,” leaders must build a shared commitment to each other, and a shared commitment to continual improvement. What follows is enterprise level success in the midst of volatility and complexity. It may not happen quickly or easily, but it is nevertheless important and worth our time and effort. And what separates the best from others are people who live their commitments and keep their commitments. For this is the pathway to creating a work environment where people want to join the company and stay with the company through the metaphorical “thick and thin. This is the pathway to building commitment over time.
© Geery Howe 2024
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